Bradwell
A nuclear power station operator in Essex has been found guilty of allowing radioactive waste to seep from a sump in a decontamination unit for 14 years. Magnox Electric denied four charges of allowing unauthorised disposal of radioactive waste between 1990 and 2004 at Bradwell nuclear power station. At Chelmsford Crown Court the firm was convicted of breaching laws governing the disposal of radioactive waste.
BBC 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Community Funding
The government must issue interim guidance on funding community involvement in major infrastructure, the RTPI demanded this week. It was responding to the revelation that Sedgemoor District Council asked EDF and British Energy for £750,000 to investigate proposals for a reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Planning Resource 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Scotland
THE head of a new climate-change body that will advise the Scottish Government has disagreed with Alex Salmond’s decision not to build nuclear power stations. Lord Adair Turner, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, said he thinks all options for providing electricity should be left open, including the creation of new nuclear power plants. “The Scottish Government has to make its own decisions, but we think the challenge of dealing with climate change is so big that we should be very wary of ruling out any option that is available.”
Scotsman 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Billions of pounds is lost to clean energy sources through investment in nuclear power, First Minister Alex Salmond has said. The Scottish Government announced plans to create 16,000 green energy jobs by 2020 earlier this week. SNP backbencher Joe Fitzpatrick had asked what impact the UK government’s “obsession” with nuclear power would have on the renewables industry, during First Minister’s Questions.
Wishaw Press 5th Feb 2009 more >>
Chapelcross
A £2.5m investment to help tackle the economic impact of a nuclear plant closure has been announced. Decommissioning work is currently under way on the Chapelcross nuclear plant near Annan in Dumfries and Galloway. The grants are designed to support economic regeneration projects in the Gretna, Lockerbie and Annan area.
BBC 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Energy Supplies
Andrew Duff (RWE): The UK energy sector is facing huge and pressing challenges. We need a modernised power system capable of reconciling environmental commitments with long-term security of supply at an affordable cost. Achieving this, and avoiding a genuine energy crisis, requires a coherent energy plan and a sense of urgency. Currently the industry is able to push ahead with some wind and gas power stations. That is good news, but more is needed; we will have to deploy the full range of available energy generation technologies. There must also be a step-change in reducing demand, which means greater fiscal incentives, not just taxes, to encourage consumers to invest in energy efficiency. A lower- carbon primary energy mix is even more vital if we are to move to greater electrification of private transport, reducing the reliance on oil.
FT 5th Feb 2009 more >>
Companies
Siemens and Rosatom are in negotiations to form a cooperative venture that will strengthen their positions in the nuclear market, which has fuelled speculation that Europe’s largest engineering company could create a joint venture with Atomenergoprom, an affiliate of Russia’s state nuclear corporation.
Nuclear Engineering International 6th Feb 2009 more >>
GDF Suez will hope to fulfil its ambition of building nuclear capacity in the UK through an industrial partnership with Iberdrola and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).
Modern Power Systems 6th Feb 2009 more >>
NDA
A senior Tory was under fire last night after he described funding for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) as “burning taxpayers’ money on a quango gravy train”. Former Conservative Party chairman and now Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude attacked spending on Britain’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), including the NDA.
Carlisle News and Star 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Pakistan
A Pakistani court freed nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from house arrest, five years after he admitted selling atomic bomb technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Bloomberg 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Times 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Telegraph 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Guardian 6th Feb 2009 more >>
BBC 6th Feb 2009 more >>
China
China will spend 580bn yuan (£59.5bn) expanding its energy sector in 2009 with plans for new solar and wind-powered generating capacity, but also nuclear and coal-fired plants.
Guardian 5th Feb 2009 more >>
Sweden
Nuclear power received a significant boost today when the Swedish government announced plans to overturn a near 30-year ban on atomic plants as part of a new drive to increase energy security and combat global warming.
Guardian 6th Feb 2009 more >>
FT 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Herald 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Times 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Iran
“If Iran gets nuclear weapons, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty falls apart,” a Foreign Office official suggested. The treaty is due for review and renewal next year. Iran is still a member of the treaty arrangement. “There is nothing civil in the [Iranian] programme as far as we can tell so far, and there have been no enrichment plants opened for visits.”
Guardian 6th Feb 2009 more >>
The Bushehr nuclear power station being built in Iran by Russia is nearly complete and should be launched within the year, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said in an interview published Friday.
Yahoo 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Turkey
The Russian-led consortium that won the tender to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and supply energy to the national grid has revised its price offer in an attempt to prevent its bid from collapsing.
Today’s Zaman 6th Feb 2009 more >>
Disarmament
Henry Kissinger, the pioneer of Cold War detente during the Nixon era, has made a return to frontline politics after President Barack Obama reportedly sent him to Moscow to win backing from Vladimir Putin’s government for a nuclear disarmament initiative.
Telegraph 6th Feb 2009 more >>
The Obama administration is looking for a quick deal between the US and Russia to more than halve their nuclear weapons stockpiles, reversing the Bush White House’s refusal to be bound by international treaties. Diplomats and officials say they are optimistic Washington and Moscow can quickly agree to cut warheads to about 1,000.
Guardian 6th Feb 2009 more >>
